Avoiding Project Management Disasters

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Managing projects is like walking on a tightrope. It will take you from the point you are to the point where you be, but the journey can extremely tricky. There will be instances where you might slip but you have to make every attempt to hang on, otherwise the fall would be a bad one. Companies might or might not recover from such mishaps and more often than not, they end up expending a lot of resources and money than anticipated.

Unfortunately, enterprises get so caught up on focusing some aspects that others slip out of their attention. SAP B1 partners list some of most common disasters experienced by companies, most of which could have easily been avoided. If you are about start project management, then look out for the following potential disasters and avoid them at every cost.

– Poor budget planning

There can be no limit to planning if budget is not in the picture at all. You can devise the best of techniques and scale up the project to achieve the desired results, but one factor prevents you from getting so luxurious with your choices – budget. The financial aspect defines how much money can be spent and where it should be spent. Meticulous financial planning should be done right from the materials costs, manufacturing and supply chain costs in addition to covering HR department’s needs. In case you are planning to have one or more SAP B1 addon, consider the costs associated with them and then proceed forward.

– Ignoring the big picture

Agreed, project management is all about executing all the small tasks perfectly so that the overall result comes out positive. But if you aren’t clear about where you want to the project to or how you want to go there and eventually by when do you want to achieve the stipulated results, you will be in trouble. Start from the big picture, have a clear goal in mind and then break the process into smaller, achievable phases. If you start the other way, tackling smaller tasks at hand hoping to tie them together in the end you will fall flat on your face. Probably those tasks will combine to make a sensible goal, but it might not be the goal you aimed for. So, never ignore the big picture. Keep one eye on it as you tackle smaller tasks.

– Ineffective scheduling of resources

Every phase of a project will require certain set of resources to be executed properly. At times, companies are too generous with offering resources. Other extreme is also observed where resources are stingily offered. Either case, the project will suffer or unnecessary expenses will be added. Before the project begins, sit with your team and senior management to evaluate the scope of the project at hand, understand which resources are required and assign them accordingly to the staff working on the project. If you have any SAP B1 addon as a part of your project, then consider the resources required for the same. One thing to keep in mind is that both under-scheduling and over-scheduling brings unfavorable results and should be avoided.

– Incapability to cope with Big Data

SAP solution provides real-time data and important insights that would be useful for the project. The project management team is expected to analyze them and put the knowledge into good use. When the company is unable to cope with the amount of big data, there is a very good chance of wasting information crucial for the project. Such information has the potential to make or break the project. Use tools to analyze the data, take help of software solutions that provide comprehensive and detailed reports to understand the data and have a qualified team that has the ability to read between the lines and correlate the information with goals, opportunities and demands of the company.

SAP B1 partners also advise to perform impact analysis as the project moves ahead. Every action may affect the project in different ways, so it is important to constantly check if the assigned task is giving the desired result or whether it has deviated in any degree. If it has, put in all efforts to bring it back on track. When project management is effective, it progresses efficiently and delivers exactly the results that were wanted.